About the Journal

Focus and Scope

Brief Encounters showcases research undertaken by CHASE-funded and affiliated individuals as well as non-HEI partner members. As an open access journal, Brief Encounters supports the dissemination of knowledge to a global readership, with the intent that the research it publishes encourages the exchange of ideas outside of traditional academic circles. All articles published by Brief Encounters are free to read and accessible to all with no registration required.

Who can submit to Brief Encounters?

• CHASE-funded students
• Postgraduate students at CHASE institutions (regardless of funding status)
• Alumni of CHASE institutions
• Individuals employed by CHASE institutions
• Individuals employed by Non-HEI CHASE partners 

Brief Encounters publishes short but still academically rigorous pieces, providing individuals with the opportunity to publish in an alternative format to the traditional 7-8,000 word articles often required by academic publications. It is a space to publish work conducted for previous studies, conference papers, research that does not have a place in a doctoral thesis, or an inspired scribble in a notebook that deserves fuller exploration. It aims to preserve and facilitate the discussion of work that would otherwise be limited to single discipline conferences, conversations within institutions, or even a brief exchange on a train platform.

The Editorial Team welcomes contributions in a variety of formats, including articles of 500 to 4,000 words, video essays, documentaries, and musical compositions, as well as reviews that provide an overview of emerging scholarship. The journal website includes a digital exhibition space for practice-based work, such as videos, posters, and photography. Work featured on the website must be accompanied by a critical commentary (500-4,000 words in length), which will be published in the journal.

As a forum for interdisciplinary and collaborative research, Brief Encounters is an opportunity to publish work that may develop into larger projects, possibly taking your research in new and different directions.

If you are interested in submitting to the journal, please read our current Call for Submissions.

Peer Review Process

Brief Encounters uses a double-blind review, which means that both the reviewer and author identities are concealed throughout the review process.

All submissions to Brief Encounters will undergo double-blind peer-review by researchers with the relevant expertise.

All communication with authors will be undertaken through the Open Journal System (via email) by the relevant Section Editor to which the submission is designated.

All submissions to Brief Encounters will be reviewed by the Submissions Editors and checked using Turnitin anti-plagiarism software. Those that successfully fit within the remit of the journal will then be reviewed by the relevant Section Editor. Your submission may be rejected at either of these stages, before being sent for peer-review. Section Editors will inform you if this is the case.

Successful submissions will be sent for peer-review by two reviewers. You will be informed of this. These reviewers will recommend one of the following options:

Accept: Your submission has been accepted without revisions

Accepted with Minor Revisions: Your submmission has been accepted but you will be expected to carry out some revisions according to the recommendations of our peer-reviewers

Revise and Re-submit: Your submission requires major revisions. It is recommended that you significantly revise your work according to the recommendations of the peer-reviewer and re-submit it to the journal. Upon re-submissions, your submission will undertake a second round of peer-review.

Reject: Your submission has not been accepted for Brief Encounters. (The journal retains the right to reject submissions without sending them for review.)

Section Editors and Submissions Editors will then assess the review and make a final decision. Section Editors will inform you of this decision and communicate any revisions if recommended. The anonymity of reviewers will be ensured.

To facilitate this, authors need to ensure that their manuscripts are prepared in a way that does not reveal their identity.

To help with this preparation please ensure the following when submitting to Brief Encounters:

• Remove any information in your manuscript (including footnotes and acknowledgements) that could identify you, and disguise all references to personally identifiable information such as the institution where your work was carried out.
• In text, you can replace any information that would identify the author(s) by substituting words such as: [name deleted to maintain the integrity of the review process].
• Avoid or minimise self-citation. If it is necessary to cite your own work, delete the names of authors and other identifying information and place substitute words in brackets, such as: [name deleted to maintain the integrity of the review process]. In the reference list, you should delete the citation and add it before submitting your final draft.
• Do not mention a grant awarded to a named person.
• Do not add any running headers or footers that would identify authors.
• Refer to your own references in the third person. For example, write ‘Smith and Black (2007) have demonstrated’, not ‘We have previously demonstrated (Smith & Black, 2007)’.
• Check that all identifiers have been removed from electronic files. For further help with this, please consult: http://journal.cpha.ca/index.php/cjph/help/view/editorial/topic/000044
• When you submit the final draft of the manuscript for publication, you will need to put back any references to yourself, your institution, grants awarded, etc.

Conflicts of Interest

Whilst the Editorial Board endeavours to ensure that all peer-reviews are double-blind (the author and reviewer are kept anonymous and are not known to each other), we are aware that within specialist fields of research this may not always be possible due to interactions at conferences and subject specific events etc. All peer-reviewers are therefore expected to notify the Editorial Board of any conflicts of interest - i.e. if a reviewer knows the author in question on a personal or professional basis, and whether this may impact upon their peer-review comments and recommendation. The Editorial Board will then make a decision as to whether an alternative reviewer should be found. All conflicts of interest will be taken into account when making a final decision on submissions. The Senior Editors/Co-Founding Editors are not permitted to submit to Brief Encounters. Should Editorial Board members wish to submit to the journal, decisions regarding articles will be made by the Academic Steering Committee.

Publication Frequency

Brief Encounters publishes an issue annually in the spring term.

Open Access Policy

Hosted by the Open Journal System (OJS), Brief Encounters provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. 

Associate Editors

Associate Editors are responsible for peer reviewing submissions to Brief Encounters.

Academic Steering Committee

Composed of academics from across the CHASE institutions, the Academic Steering Committee represents the diverse and interdisciplinary nature of the consortium. Members of the Committee provide expert advice on submissions as well as guidance on the governance and remit of the journal.

• Professor Paul Allain, University of Kent
• Dr Julie Anderson, University of Kent
• David Avital, Bloomsbury Academic
• Dr Emily Bartlett, University of Kent
• Professor Joanna Bourke, Birkbeck, University of London
• Dr Steven Colburn , University of Sussex
• Dr Delia Da Souza Correa, The Open University
• Professor Pamela Cox, University of Essex
• Dr Denise Decaires Narain, University of Sussex
• Dr Kai Easton, SOAS, University of London
• Professor Martin Paul Eve, Birkbeck, University of London
• Dr Luna Filipovic, University of East Anglia
• Professor Peter Gurney, University of Essex
• Professor Andrew Hadfield, University of Sussex
• Dr Sara Haslam, The Open University
• Dr Alberto Hijazo-Gascón, University of East Anglia
• Professor Edward Higgs, University of Essex
• Professor Kate Lacey, University of Sussex
• Professor Maria Lauret, University of Sussex
• Professor Vicky Lebeau, University of Sussex
• Jade Lee, SOAS, University of London
• Dr Nicole Mennell, University of Sussex
• Annette Moore, University of Sussex
• Dr Ryan Perry, University of Kent
• Masuda Qureshi, Birkbeck, University Of London
• Professor Nicola Watson, The Open University

If you are interested in joining the Editorial Board or the Academic Steering Committee, please contact chasedtpjournal@gmail.com

Sponsors

CHASE is the Consortium for the Humanities and the Arts, South-East England and brings together 8 leading institutions engaged in collaborative research. These are the Universities of East Anglia, Essex, Kent and Sussex, The Courtauld Institute of Art, Goldsmiths, University of London, Birkbeck, University of London and SOAS, University of London.

• CHASE DTP

Sources of Support

The website for Brief Encounters was designed and developed by Matt Fay using the OJS framework.

• Matt Fay Freelance Digital Services

Journal History

Brief Encounters was founded in April 2016 by Emily Bartlett and Nicole Mennell, with the support of the Consortium for the Humanities and Arts in South-East England (CHASE). The founding Editorial Board was composed of postgraduate researchers from across all nine CHASE institutions.

Taking inspiration from CHASE’s biannual conference ‘Encounters’, and the 1945 film, Brief Encounter, the journal hopes to inspire intellectual relationships between individuals separated by geographical distances. In these brief, but still meaningful, academic encounters, the journal aims to start conversations which will lead to unexpected journeys.

Brief Encounters invites short, but still academically rigorous, pieces of 500 to 4,000 words. The journal provides Masters and PhD students with the opportunity to publish in alternative and creative formats. Read our Focus and Scope for more information.

The Founding Editorial Team at Encounters, the CHASE biannual conference (University of Kent, Friday 6th May 2016)

As of 2019, the journal has released three issues and is preparing for its fourth. The journal continues to be run by students from CHASE-affiliated institutions. Issues two, three and four were edited by Jade Lee (SOAS), Masuda Qureshi (Birkbeck) and James Broun (Sussex) respectively.